The Wales Act 2017 (c. 7) is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

. It sets out amendments to the

Government of Wales Act 2006 The Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the then-National Assembly for Wales (now the Senedd) and allows further powers to be granted to it more easily. The Act creates a system ...

and devolves further powers to

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. The legislation is based on the proposals of the St David's Day Command Paper.

Background

The bill was proposed by the Conservative Party in its manifesto for the 2015 general election. The draft Wales Bill was presented in October 2015 and faced much criticism from the public over tests for competence (also known as "necessity tests"). As a result, the bill had been put on hold by the beginning of 2016. An amended bill was introduced into the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

on 1 June 2016.

Main provisions

One of the most important provisions is that the Act moved Wales from a conferred matters model to a reserved matters model, which is used in Scotland under the

Scotland Act 1998 The Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which legislated for the establishment of the devolved Scottish Parliament with tax varying powers and the Scottish Government (then Scottish Executive). It was o ...

. The Act repealed the provision of the Wales Act 2014 for a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

in Wales on devolution of

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

. The Act gives extra powers to the

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

and the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...

: * The ability to amend sections of the

which relate to the operation of the

and the

within the United Kingdom, including control of its electoral system (subject to a two-thirds majority within the Assembly) for any proposed change. * The ability to use such amendment to devolve powers to the National Assembly for Wales and the Welsh Ministers over areas such as

road signs Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of or above roads to give instructions or provide information to road users. The earliest signs were simple wooden or stone milestones. Later, signs with directional arms were introduc ...

, onshore oil and gas activity,

harbours A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

, rail franchising, energy efficiency, and advice. * The power to change the name of the National Assembly for Wales. On 9 October 2019 the Assembly agreed that the new name would be Welsh Parliament / Senedd Cymru. It came into effect in May 2020. * The ability to raise or lower

by up to 10p in the pound * The Welsh Government to have increased borrowing powers to support capital investment, up to £1 billion * Extended powers over equalities and tribunals * Creation of the Welsh Revenue Authority, a tax authority for Welsh devolved taxes while

HMRC His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC, and formerly Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) is a Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the UK government responsible for the tax collectio ...

collects taxes that are not devolved to Wales The Act recognised the National Assembly for Wales and the Welsh Government as permanent among UK's constitutional arrangements, with a referendum required before either can be abolished. The Act has also recognised that there is a body of Welsh law and it established the position of

President of Welsh Tribunals The President of Welsh Tribunals () is a senior judge in Wales who presides over the Tribunals in the United Kingdom, Welsh tribunal system. The position was established by the Wales Act 2017 and is the first senior judicial role relating solely ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wales Act 2017 Welsh devolution Senedd United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2017 Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning Wales Constitutional laws of Wales January 2017 in the United Kingdom

Background

Main provisions

See also

References